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WILLEM ARNOLD ARRIENS. 



/ 

Holland S(Kiety 

RECEPTION 

(Beaverwyck Branch) 
ALBANY, MAY .)th. iH.n, 

Commander and Officers of the Netherland's Warship 

Van Speijk. 

Captain : 

WiLLEM Arnold Arriens. 



jst Lieutenant: 

W. L. M. Olivihr. 

ad Lieutenant!: 

G. W. De I.eiir, A. J. Kleijnentxrjs. 

G. J. J. Verdam. 

Sub- Lieutenant!: 

K. W. Sluis, M. K. Medenbach. 

K. W. Van der Chijs. L. Van Vcrre. 

I. R. Van der Mandelen, F. H. A. Greve, 

N. Van de Roemer. G. R. J. Hacntj« r>kkfr. 

A. GocUoop. B. H. Van Mwrlant, 

P. M. A. Bogaert. ). H. Commijs. 

J. M. Grullemans. 

Surg«on : 
H. V.in dff Voo. 



r.TJi'V 



./ 

'H73 



STENOGRAPHIC REPORT. 



ESTABLISHED 1807. 

Van Benthuysen Printing House, 
albany, n. y., 



COPYRIGHTED 



BY C. H. VAN BENTHUYSEN. 



?iui ^licijk. 



Bv the ooiirtosy of Messrs. Depew juid \';in Ars- 
dale of the New York Central k Hudson River 
11. R. Co., the officers were provided transportation 
from New York to Albany and return, leaving New 
Y'ork on the fast mail in special car " Ursula " at 
9: 10 A. M., arriving at Albany at 12:28, accom- 
panied by Mr. Van Arsdale of the R. R. Co., and 
Messrs. Banta, Van Siclen and Pruyn, members of 
the Society. 

On arrival they were met by the Committee of 
Arrangements, 

Albert Vander Veer, Chairman, 
Miles W. Vosburgh, Secretary, 
Richard Varick Dc Witt, 
J. V. L. Pruyn, 
James Ten Eyck, 
Jacob H. Ten Eyck, 
Charles H. Van Benthuysen, 
William Bayard Van Rensselaer, 
and escorted in carriages to the City Hall, where 
the Mayor presented a parchment extending the 
freedom of the city to them, and greeted them with 
an address of welcome. 



The day was perfect, the first in many, and the 
route by which they passed was decorated with flags, 
many of them being that of the Netherlands. 

The Mayor spoke as follows : 

" In behalf of the executive and legislative 
branches of our city government; in behalf of a 
people numbering nearly one hundred thousand, I 
have the pleasure and honor of extending to you a 
most cordial welcome. But a few hours ago you 
were in the great city of New York, where you 
found much to admire and enjoy ; now you are the 
guests of the oldest city in the thirteen original 
States, Albany, the capital city of the Empire State. 
It is gratifying to know that you are in our midst, 
even though it be only for a few hours, for as we 
take you by the hand and look into your honest 
faces, we realize that we stand in the presence of 
true friends, who, because of ancestral ties, have 
more than ordinary interest in the welfare of our 
municipality. You have journeyed along the banks 
of yonder noble river by rail, and as you beheld the 
beautiful scenery, which is so graphically described 
in the writings of Washington Irving, I dare say 
you wondered what the condition of affairs here- 
abouts must have been in those days of long ago 
when Hendrick Hudson sailed, in his primitive way, 
from the bay of New York for the spot which we, 
who are Albanians, now call our home. We are 
not prone to dwelling in the past, but we would in- 
deed be ungrateful if we did not bless the day on 



which the Dutch took possession of the ground on 
whicli Albany stands. In the year 1879 several 
centennial celel)nitions were held in this State, and 
at one of them a former governor, Horatio Seymour, 
who sprang from good old Dutch stock, said : " No 
people can rise to a high degree of virtue and 
patriotism who do not know nor care for the 
achievements of their fathers." We honor and re- 
spect the memory of the men from HoHand, who 
gave us the nucleus of what is to-day a large and 
prosperous city. All admit that it was fortunate 
for the future of our country that the Hollanders 
first occupied the banks of the Hudson and threw 
open the gateway to the interior of the continent to 
all nationalities and to all creeds. 

" The Albany of those days is not the Albany of 
to-day. Great advances have been made. Instead 
of mud roads, we have well-paved and electric- 
lighted streets. The inhabitants and houses which 
Morse has described as having their gable-ends to- 
ward the street have disappeared. It is the modern 
Albany to which we invite your attention, and for 
which, we sincerely trust, you will have none but 
pleasant memories when we are separated by the 
broad expanse of oceans. Gentlemen, the freedom 
of the city is yours, and may you enjoy it to the 
fullest extent, is the wish of the dear people for 
whom I speak." 

Captain Arriens thanked the Mayor in very 
pleasant language, saying : 



" Mr. Major — We thank you very much for 
your extremely kind remarks. For my officers and 
myself, I can assure you that we highly appreciate 
the most cordial reception we have received at 
your hands — a repetition of the reception which 
we have received in New York and other places. I 
can but say, with deep feeling, that whenever we 
leave your land and depart for our homes, we can 
assure you that we will depart with the pleasant 
memories of the old Dutch town, Albany." 

The party were then driven to the home of Mrs. 
J. V. L. Pruyn, where a luncheon was served, there 
being present representatives from some of the old- 
est families in the city. Among the guests present 
were : 



R. L. Banks, 
T. M. Banta, 
Albert Y. Bensen, 
Abraham Y. De Witt, 
Richard Y. De Witt, 
Edmund H. Huyck, 
Francis C. Huyck, 
Rev. E. P. Johnson, 
T. A. Knickerbacker, 
Abraham Lansing, 
John T. Lansing, 
Mayor Manning, 
Peyton F. Miller, 
Charles L. Pruyn, 



J. Y. L. Pruyn, 

Rev. A. Y. Y. Raymond, D. D., 

Hiram E. Sickels, 

Jacob H. Ten Eyck, 

J. H. Yan Antwerp, 

C. H. Yan Benthuysen, 

Albert Yander Yeer, 

Wm. Bayard Yan Rensselaer, 

G. W. Yan Siclen, 

John L. Yan Yalkenburgh, 

Edward W. Yisscher, 

M. W. Yosburgh, 

Charles Y. Winne, 



and a lar^re number of ladies. 



Tlio party was afterwards iccmmvcmI at the Exoru- 
tivc (;iianil)t'r l)y (i«)V('rn()r Flower, and throupli the 
kindness of the Siipcrintondcnt in cliar^c, were 
escorted tlirouLdi tin- Capitol, after which they 
attain entered the carriat^os and were shown the 
points of interest in the city. They were ^'reatly 
interested in seeinj^ tlie new cnpne-house on Madi- 
son avenue, recently completed, with all the modern 
improvements relatinj^ to fire-alarm, etc. — the entire 
fire company being present and f^oinp through the 
harnessing of the horses, and getting everything in 
shape to proceed to a fire, Captain Arriens having 
pressed the button releasing the horses, opening the 
doors and sounding the alarm. 

At seven o\'lock P. M. they were escorted to the 
Fort Orange Club hou.'^e, on Washington avenue, 
where the dinner took place. The beautiful dining- 
room presented a scene long to be remembered. 
Covers were laid for seventy-two. In addition to 
the officers of the Van Speyk, above mentioned, 
there were present members of the Holland Society 
residing in Albany and vicinity, as follows: 
A. V. Bensen, Abraham Lansing, 

A. De r.rafT, I. D. F. Lansing, 

A. V. De Witt, W. C. Mar.selius, 

R. V. De Witt, P. F. Miller. 

W. B. Elmendorf. .'ohn V. L. Pruyn. 

M. C. Groesbeck, Cebra Quackenbush, 

E. N. Huyck, C. C. Schuyler, 

F. C. Huyck, H. E. Sickels, 
T. A. Knickerbackcr, J. L. Switz, 



J. H. Ten Eyck, J. L. Van Valkenburgh, 

G. A. Van Allen, A. Van Vechten, 

T. J. Van Alstyne, John Van Voorhis, 

D. L. Van Antwerp, A. T. Van Vranken, 

J. H. Van Antwerp, Jasper Van Wormer, 

T. I. Van Antwerp, M. E. Viele, 

W. M. Van Antwerp, Sheldon D. Viele, 

D. H. Van Auken, Edward Visscher, 
Chas. H. Van Benthuysen, Miles W. Vosburgh, 
W. L. Vandenberg, S. B. Ward, 
Albert Vander Veer, J. I. Wendell, 

W. B. Van Rensselaer, C. V. Winne, 

E. Van Slyke, John Wolfe. 

Among the invited guests were Governor Flower, 
Mayor Manning, President Armatage, of the Com- 
mon Council; Rev. E. P. Johnson, of the First 
Reformed Church ; Rev. A. V. V. Raymond, D. D., 
of this city ; Mr. George W. Van Siclen and Mr. 
Theodore M. Banta, from New York. 

With the exception of the ensign of Holland 
suspended over the southern door, the decorations 
were mostly floral. The massive fire-place and 
mantel were almost hidden by waving, oriental 
palms, lilies, daisies and gay-colored plants in full 
bloom. Masses of palms and green foliage were 
placed in the four corners of the room and at the 
ends of each table. The tables, however, were the 
great delights to the eyes. Ferns and asparagus 
flowers in full bloom were there in great profusion, 
and from between them arose, at frequent intervals. 



candelahiii with waxen cainllcs. In tlj(3 inicMlo of 
the first tahlc was the perfect model of a fiteamHhip 
restin*; on a l)ank of fcrn.s and small palms. On 
tlie centre tal)le of the three rows was a model of a 
modern cruising cutter, with all signals set, the 
Holland lla^ at the mast-head, on a sea of emerald 
verdure. In one of the wine ghusses hefore each 
plate was a <:;orgeous tulip. 

Dr. Vander Veer, Chairman, occupied the middle 
seat at the first table, and on his right sat Captain 
Arriens, on his left Governor F'lower. The other 
twelve seats at this table were occupied l)v the 
speakers and special guests of honor. 

Dr. Vander Veer : " It gives me pleasure to in- 
troduce to you a representative of the oldest church 
in this country — said by historians to be the oldest, 
in point of organization, in the United States. I 
refer to the First Reformed Church, and call upon 
the Rev. ¥,. P. Johnson to say grace ; " which he 
did in the following eloquent and reverent words : 
" Father of Mercies ! who openest Tliine hand and 
eatisfiest the desire of every living thing — bless to 
us these good things provided from Thine overflow- 
ing bounty. Teach us true gratitu<le for Thy gifts 
and loving ap})reciation of Thy goodnes.**. Help us 
all to be loyal in all our varied service, and lirave 
and self-forgetful in every high responsibility. And 
when our earthly work and warfare shall be over, 
give us an abundant entrance into the eity of Heav- 
enly Rest, through the Great Captain of our salva- 
tion, Jesus Christ. Amen." 



Following was the menu : 

Little Neck clams. Haut sauterne. 

Spring soup. Amontillado. 

Olives. Almonds. Radishes. 

Chicken halibut, sauce Hollandaise. 

New potatoes. Cucumber salad. 

Stuffed tomatoes. Pontet Cauet. 

Spring lamb, mint sauce. Moet and Chandon. 

New peas. Fresh asparagus. 

Roman punch. Cigarettes. 

Philadelphia squab. Lettuce salad. 

Camembert and Edam cheese. Toasted crackers. 

Strawberries and cream. Cake. 

Maple sugar. Liqueurs. Cigars. 

After partaking of the rich supply of good things 
spread before them, Dr. Vander Veer arose and 
said : 

" Captain Arriens and the officers of the Nether- 
lands warship Van Speyk : It gives me great pleas- 
ure to extend to you, in behalf of the members of 
the Holland Society residing in Albany and vicin- 
ity, an earnest welcome to this old Dutch town. It 
is peculiarly appropriate that we assemble to-night 
in a building bearing the name of Fort Orange. 
The decorations will bring to your mind recollec- 
tions of the history so intimately connected with 
your Holland of to-day, the homes of our ancestors, 
the fatherland of us all. In this welcome we desire 
to express our pleasure, and to assure you of our 
loyalty to our mother country. 

"It is proper that I should call your attention 



somewliat to llie liistorlciil Wwia associated with the 
city you are now vi.sitin^^ No place in the United 
StJitCH is more rruitrul «»r hi.^torical interest tluin 
Albany, made so hy innunKral)le events connected 
witli our early colonial associations. We can claim 
for Albany an older date even tlum that of our ^reat 
commercial metropolis, which you have so recently 
visited, and where you have been entertained by 
descendants of Dutchmen a little younger in years, 
yet none the less cordial in their hospitality. This 
is the oldest organized Dutch city in the United 
States, and the oldest but one in this country. 

'' In September, IGOO, Ilendrick Hud.son, in the 
Half Moon, sailed up the Ifeautiful river along which 
you were borne to-day by the most modern of rail- 
way trains, a river which now bears his name. It 
delights us to know that you have seen it in so 
favorable a manner, to carry back with you to the 
mother country an impression of the homage yet 
paid to the discoverer of what was at first supposed 
to be the way to the East Indies. The crew of this 
vessel were the first white men to see the site of <nir 
present prosperous city. 

"Recognizing the commercial worth of so i;iw.r- 
able a location in the early part of the seventeenth 
century, the Dutch established a trading-post here. 
"Hudson had expatiated upon the merits of this 
great river on his return to Europe, and desired 
immediately to set forth upon another voyage to 
this land of new won<lers, but, as you well know, 
was prevented by the English authorities, who 



began now to grow jealous of the maritime enter- 
prise of the Dutch. This was at a period when the 
Netherlands had reached the century of greatest 
prosperity in her history. ' She was then the first 
maritime power in Europe, and Amsterdam was the 
commercial capital of the world.' We look back 
with pride upon the history of old Holland of that 
day. With the government at that time was mixed 
the leaven of republicanism, which characterizes 
them, now as then, the source of activity and enter- 
prise, the admiration of the whole world. She had 
had her successful wars ; she had contended with 
powers infinitely stronger than her own, but after a 
struggle of eighty years had been successful, not in 
the spirit ' That might makes right,' but in the 
spirit of quiet determination to follow out the jus- 
tice of God's doing. 

" In the settlement of this portion of America by 
the Dutch there was evinced that spirit of fairness 
and honesty, born from a policy that had always 
shown her to be generous, far in advance of all 
other countries in the arts and sciences, in religious 
toleration, in all pertaining to the evolution of the 
tree of progress now bearing such wonderful nine- 
teenth century fruit. This same factor was exhib- 
ited in their treatment of the aborigines of this 
country. Albany in the past owes much of its 
wealth and prosperity to the traffic in furs and 
peltry with the Indians. Such was the evidence of 
their true, gentle, just, equitable dealings with the 
natives that the city was never attacked during the 



niiincrourt wars wlncli occurreil ;it the time of the 
Dutch adminiHtration. 

" In 1G14 was erected the first trading-houHe on 
the island below tlie city. In 1G8G Albany became 
of suflicient importance in the eyes of the British 
government to be chartered as a city, and what is 
known tus the ' Dongan cliarter ' was then granted 
by the CJovernor of this province, which brought 
much joy and pleasure to the Dutchmen of that day. 

" There are gathered about this table to-night 
representatives of old Dutch families, many whose 
names you recognize as familiar, and, in introducing 
them to you, 1 cannot do better than quote from our 
native poet : 

•* ' Where be the DutchineTi of the olden time, 
Who saw our ancient city in its jtrime ? 
The Bleeckers, Brinkerhoffs, Van Homes and Dyckmans, 
Van Hooks, Van Buniniels, Vander Poels and Ryckmans ; 
Van Rensselaers, Ten Broecks, Van Peltz and Hoppers, 
The Van der Spiegels, Van der Hoofs and Cloppers ; 
Van Benthuysens, Van iSandtfoords ami Van Deuseus, 
The Verra Vangers, Schenuerhorns, Van Heusens ; 
The Van der ViMirts, Van Rippers and Van Dycks, 
The Vanderheydens, Slingerhmds, Ten Kyt-ks ; 
The Knickerbockers, Lansings and Van Burens, 
Van Dams, Van Winkles, Stuyvesants, Van Keurens ; 
The Hoffmans, Rosbooms, Hogobooms and fclchroeders, 
Van Valkenborgs and StoMtenbnrgs ami Schneiders ; 
Van Schaacks, Van Vechtens, Visschers and Van Wies, 
Van Tromps, Vatj 8choonhovens and Vanderzees ; 
Van Zandts, Van Blarseins, Scliuylers, Van Schellynes — 
Douw.s, Hoo^'hiands, Waldrons, Vandenbiirghsand Pruyns ; 
De Witts, Hochstrassers, Bonterons, Van Geisons, 
Van Gaasbecks, Groesbecks, Bensons and Van Hesoiis ; 



«3 



Where are they, all those men of sounding name — 
Of pipe, knee-breeches, and round-bellied frame ? 
The buxom, blooming lass, the tidy vrouw, 
The musical old slaves, where are they now ? 
The quaint old houses with their chimneys tall ; 
Their gable to the street — where are they all ? 
The curious purse with many a gilder stored, 
The festal dainties smoking on the board ; 
The olycoeck, the crisp and crumbling cruller. 
The cakes of divers taste, and shape and color ; 
Sweetcake and doughnut, ginger-cake and honey, 
And pipes more precious now than modern money ? 
A.11 vanished; pipes, old customs, breeches, all — 
Like leaves that bloom awhile, then have their fall ; 
Or like a footprint in the fleeting snow. 
When the warm breathings of the spring-time blow. 
Ah, the good Dutchman of the olden time. 
Who saw our ancient city in its prime — 
Ah, when they flourished, how the jolly year 
Flew, smiling, full of bounty and good cheer — 
Those days, unequalled here or anywhere ; 
Those people — what a good old set they were.' 

" Some of our forefathers smoked the pipe of 
peace with Hendrick Hudson, others fought in the 
Revolution. We are Albanians of Dutch blood of 
the deepest dye. 

" ' Dutch emigration to America rested upon the 
primary conviction that families ought not to be 
separated. When the movement fairly began, whole 
families set sail from Holland in the same ship. 
The object of the Dutch was to set up in America 
a veritable Nieu Nederlandt, the name which was 
given, under their patronage, this then howling 
wilderness, not veritable in dikes and ditches, per- 



haps, but still to be a second llolland, a*< nearly 
as poRsihlc. Witli prudent circumspection they 
hrou^dit to their new abodes, alon^' with tlieir intel- 
lectual peculiarities, a ^reat array of useful house- 
hold articles, wallle-tongs, long-stemmed pipes, pew- 
ter platters, high-backed settees, and even bricks, 
the latter by ship load ; so that at first every dwell- 
ing-house erected upon the site of what is now 
Albany was simply a repetition of those left in the 
Netherlands.' 

" Had I time I should like to speak of the profes- 
sions as they were represented in the early settle- 
ment of this city. In the practice of medicine the 
first physician located here bore a name which we 
recognize among our guests here to-night, Dr. Her- 
man Mynderts Van Bogaerdet, and who came to 
this country somewhere in the neighborhood of 
1631. I might mention many other names that 
would be familiar to you, in the practice of medi- 
cine, theology and law, but this will be done by 
abler speakers than myself." 

At the conclusion of his address of welcome, 
Dr. Vander Veer presented Captain Arriens and 
his companions from the Van Speyk, in behalf of 
President Beekman and the members of the Hol- 
land Society, with a beautifully chased punch bowl,* 

• The bowl is a rfprodaotion of th« Kn(c«'''h Hjl*» of lh« \mA eenlary, with 
modem n»odifie»tion«. It in \i\ inohw in diameter and ^ inohw deep, holding 
iiUnt twenty pint.". It hi»» four piineli which were enjcr»Ted •.< follow* : 

On the front p«ncl. the cofti^f-amm of the Kinjcdom of the NelherUnd*. 

On the panel lo the right of thi*. the oca] of the Holland Society, flanked on lb« 
rijcht by the obreme and on the left by the rererM of the Society"* badg*. 

'5 



manufactured expressly for them by Theodore B. 
Starr of New York, in the following appropriate 
words : 

" And now I feel a degree of embarrassment as 
we are about to drink to the health of one whom 
we all admire for her lovely, pure and winning 
manners. It gives me pleasure in presenting the 
toast, ' The young Queen of the Netherlands ;' that 
we are to drink from that emblem of purity, a silver 
punch bowl, now to be presented in behalf of the 
President and members of the Holland Society to 
Captain Arriens and officers of the Van Speyk, to 
be kept as a memento of their visit here, in com- 
memoration of the dinner in New York and of this 
dinner, and as a tie to cement more closely the rela- 
tions that have sprung up within the past few days 
in our pleasant intercourse with each other. 

" We have first the pleasure of listening to Cap- 
tain Arriens, who will respond to the toast, ' The 
Queen of the Netherlands.' " 

On the panel to the left of the front the coat-of-arms of the United States, 
flanked on the right by the shield of the City of Albany, and on the left by the 
shield of the City of New York. 

On the fourth or rear panel was placed the inscription of presentation in Dutch, 
a translation of which is as follows : Presented to her Majesty's war-ship Van 
Speyk by the Holland Society of New York, as a testimonial of love and grati- 
tude from the New Netherlandcrs to the Fatherland, on the occasion of a dinner 
during the festivities of the Columbian Naval Review, given to Captain William 
Arnold Arriens and the officers of the Van Speyk at the Fort Orange Club, 
Albany, the Ninth of May, 1893. 

On the interior at the bottom was engraved the seal of New Netherland, with 
the date 1623 underneath — the date at which the colony was erected into a prov- 
ince — and on the interior rim was cut an inscription in Dutch, the translation of 
which is as follows : " The first toast drunk from this punch-bowl was to her 
Majesty, Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands, and the second to the Captain 
in command and the officers of the Van Speyk." 

i6 



Captain Arrit'iin: " (initlcinen — I am iwkod by 
your lionored Chainiiaii to respond to the towt of 
our dear, beloved Queen. I believe there would 1)C 
no bettor place to do it than here among the Hol- 
land Society of All)any. On behalf of the ofTicers 
of the Van Speyk I wish to expresn our j^ratitudc 
and appreciation of the hospitality you have ex- 
tended to us. We appreciate it in a very high 
degree. You have all l)een very kind to u.s, and I 
must express our very sincere thanks for it. Our 
little Queen very happily enjoys very goo<l health. 
We all hope she will be safely guided by her belove<l 
mother, who in a very tender manner cares for her 
until her education is completed. We feel very sure 
that our whole population will be very kind to her. 
Gentlemen, for this splendid reception which you 
have given us I thank you very much, and I pro- 
pose that we all drink to the health of the Queen of 
the Netherlands." 

The assembled comj)any arose, and, after giving 
three cheers, drank to the health of the Queen. 

Dr. Vander Veer : " We are very happy to-night 
in having with ua the honored head of this great 
State, and it gives me pleasure to present the next 
toast: 'Our Executive, whom were we to judge by 
his liberality of heart and bounteous giving, to' l>o a 
veritable Dutchman.' I take pleasure in calling 
upon Governor Flower to respond." 

Governor Flower: "Mr. President. ( .ipi. .Vrnt-ti.'*. 
the Guests of the Holland Society and Band (laugh- 



ter) — Your honored President has hit it right for 
once. 1 have never boasted of it, and I never did 
it, because I have never been so proud of it as I am 
to-night that I have Dutch blood in my veins. (Ap- 
plause.) My mother claimed relationship with the 
Van Rensselaers. (Renewed applause.) Since I have 
been at this table I have seen this flower of Hol- 
land open its petals until it has spread almost as 
wide as Captain Arriens, typical of that little coun- 
try of Holland that has been reclaimed from the 
sea, and then spread itself all over the world until 
it is the richest country on the globe, and every 
American feels proud of her, and of one thing in 
particular, I am sure, and that is, when the battle 
was raging fierce between North and South, little 
Holland loaned us on our bonds more than any 
other nation in Europe. (Applause.) A wonderful 
country is that land reclaimed from the sea, and 
every Hollander with any blood in his veins should 
be proud of the country from which he sprang. 
(Applause.) They have shown more pluck than all 
the nations of the old world combined. I remem- 
ber of reading somewhere in history of that famous 
Dutch general and his answer to his enemies when 
they asked him to surrender. He said : ' We will 
eat our horses and our mules, our cats and our dogs, 
and when they are gone we will gnaw the flesh from 
our left arm and defend our city with the right.' 
(Applause.) I remember the conflict with Spain, 
when, rather than surrender, she submerged her 
land, and kept it under water for 300 years, and 



kept it for herself. (Applause.) One of her famous 
Bailors sailed up the Hudson river in 1G09, and at 
the very time he was sailing; up the Hudson a very 
remarkable thin^ in history occurred. From the 
north, the French were sailing up Lake Champlain, 
anil when Hendrick Hudson was at Waterford, 
B'ather Ciiamplain himself was about an hour be- 
hind time in reaching that point. He wjus an hour 
behind time because his name wasn't Van. The 
Dutchman got there first (applause); and he stayed 
there last. (Renewed applause.) Those men that 
came over and founded this great State of New 
York, laiuling on Manhattan island and sailing up 
the Hudson, have left their imprint in this civiliza- 
tion — all over it. They were far-sighted. There 
are some men that are born far-sighted. I once 
read of a dervish in India who said one day to a 
merchant: 'You lost a camel?' * Yes.' 'He is 
lame in one foot ?' ' Y^es.' ' Blind in one eye ?* 
'Yes.' 'His teeth were out on one side ?' 'Y^'es.' 
' He was loaded on one side with honey, and with 
corn on the other V ' Yes.' He said, ' You have 
not found him V ' Yes.' He was coming over 
the desert and saw that he only kept one side of the 
road, therefore he was lame in one foot and blind in 
one eye. He had nil)bled the gnu^s on one side of 
the road, therefore his teeth were goo<l on but one 
side. He saw bees on one side, and therefore knew 
he was tracking honey ; and he saw ants on the 
other si<le, and therefore knew that he was tracking 
corn. (Laughter.) Men are far-sighted when they 



'y 



found cities. The Dutch founded well because as 
they came up the Hudson there were no two better 
places to found cities than New York and Albany. 
They had the knack of staying. If we had come 
over here with our ancestors, and had bought a 
farm around New York, on that rocky ridge, and 
didn't know any more how to let go of it than they 
did, we would have had each a million dollars; 
and they haven't let go until this time. (Laughter.) 
" The Vans and the other Dutch names of Albany 
and New York got there first and stayed there last, 
and their tracks are right through this country. 
Wherever you find that blood, it knows enough 
when it has got a good thing not to let go of it. 
Our worthy Mayor has given you the freedom of 
this city. It was yours long before we came here, 
but he gave it back to you on parchment. (Laugh- 
ter.) I now offer you the freedom of the Empire 
State. It has nearly grown double in population 
the whole people of Holland. You have builded 
better than you knew. You have read it in the 
books — as I know from conversation with you — of 
the great springs to the north of us, where the 
battle of Saratoga was fought. If you should go 
there a month from now you would find fifty thou- 
sand people there in pursuit of health and pleasure. 
You will find there as great a summer resort as you 
will find near the Hague. You go further north 
and you will find nearly three million acres of vir- 
gin forest, filling our rivers and springs all the year 
around. Go a little further north, and if you have 



seen tiii' Irisli hikes, tlie Scottiwh lakes, the Swin 
lakes and tlu' lakes of Italy, you will say that the 
whole waters of Kurope do not compare any more 
with the lakes you will find up there than a farthing 
candle does to an electric li^ht. Visit the Thousand 
Islands in the great St. Lawrence river ; go with me 
to the mouth of Lake Erie, which receivea the 
waters of all the j^reat lakes — the largest fresh- 
water hikes in the world — and a,s they empty into 
Lake Ontario, I will show you the greatest water- 
fall — Niagara. In agriculture, we surpana any State 
in the Union. In the arts and sciences and manu- 
factures, we exceed them all. In literature and in 
schools, no State in the Union is comparalde with 
us. So the Dutch have builded weih I hope you 
will stay with us to take a trip across the continent. 
I would like to have you go to that great city, one 
thousand miles from New York. There you will 
find a young wonder and the white city, the fair- 
grounds that surpass anything the world haa ever 
seen. Go a little further from Chicago, right north 
to Dulutli, at the head of Lake Superior and Irom 
there take a trip of three thousand miles to the 
Pacific Ocean, and there you will find virgin forests 
and a country capal)le of sustaining six hundred and 
fifty millions of people, insteatl of sixty-five millions 
as we now have. Take a day off and go to Yellow- 
stone Park, and you will find there wonderful works 
of nature. You will find geysers spouting out of 
the ground hundreds of feet into the air, and innu- 
merable little geysers that don't count. Go to 



Tacoma and Seattle and Portland. There you will 
see moon tains towering into the clouds — eleven, 
twelve, thirteen and fourteen thousand feet high — 
hke Mount Shasta, Mount Hoo»i and others. Gome 
back to Denver, that half-wav house between Chi- 
cago and San Francisco, and you will find Pike's 
Peak, standing like a silver-helmeted sentinel out- 
side the city. Go back then to Chicago, and jou 
have got a Kttle idea of one-half of our country. 
(Applause.) You can go then to any one of the fif- 
teen Southern States, and you will find three- 
quarters of them filled with virgin forests. You will 
find there the cotton fields and the rye fields ; min- 
ing industries on every hand. That is part of the 
country that Holland discovered : part of the coun- 
try that you people should be proud of, because we 
are proud of it and we are proud to have you here to 
see it. We want you to see all of it. You are on 
the crust of it; but while you are here in the great 
State of New York, we bid you thrice welcome, and 
hope you will see it out in its greatness and its 
glory." (Applause.) 

At the conclusion of Governor Flower's speech 
he was given three cheers. 

Dr. Yander Yeer : " ' Our own proud city, never 
surrendering to the enemy, fair, honest and up- 
right in her dealing, staunch in her firiendships.' I 
call upon Mayor Manning to respond." 

Mayor Manning : " Mr. Chairman, Capt. Arriens 
and Gentlemen — The city of Albany is proud to 



have as guCHts to-day and to-ui^^lit tlie officers of thiit 
ship of the Netherhindrt HIh Kxcelleiicy, who hiui 
preceded me, has had a l)road territory to cover. 
The Governor started witli the iStute of New York 
and has taken you to the Pacific coa.Ht. I am Hin- 
ited to tlie confines of the city of Albany. Tlie 
State of New York is great, but the State of New 
York, gentlemen, would be simply notlnng at all 
without the city of Albany, which is the (.'apital. 
(Applause.) The welcome whicli was tendered you 
this morning, and which perhaps was in stereotype 
form, inasmuch as it was on parchment, as tlie 
Governor stated, is the same welcome we have given 
all guests who come within our borders. The city 
of Albany, during these two hundred and fifty o<ld 
years, has changed greatly in form an<l in the gene- 
ral make-up, and in its character generally. We no 
longer have in the city of Albany the old stockade, 
the old Fort Orange and the gates leading into the 
stockade and from it. No; the stockade is down; 
the city has spread; the people, many of them, are 
descendants of the Hollanders, and still we are more 
cosmopolitan to-day than we have ever l)een before. 
What has this all been due to ? In the early days 
of this city the Dutch .set a noble example. They 
opened up this great gateway of the Hudson river 
and invited all people of all grades to enter, ami 
they made for us the nucleus of the city, ajid from 
that nucleus we have had a healtliy growth, and to- 
day the city of Albany stands stronger and better 
in every respect, I think, than ever l)efore. About 

»3 



these tables I see not only the gentlemen of the 
steamship that has come from the Netherlands, but 
I see many of my fellow-citizens. I see gentlemen 
who have aided and assisted in making the govern- 
ment of Albany a successful government. I am but 
the representative head of that government. There 
are others here who have given valuable assistance, 
and among others Rev. Dr. Raymond, who can 
testify to the good morals of the city of Albany. 
(Laughter.) The city of Albany is destined to be, 
in the judgment of sound thinking men, a great 
residential city. We are proud of our institutions 
here. In the arts, sciences and professions, we 
have now and have always had representative 
men. This city, from its earliest stage, has been a 
great political center. In the early days of the 
colonists, those who were the agents of the colonists 
collected here, had their conferences here, and went 
forth to accomplish what, in many cases, were great 
and patriotic deeds. We come down to later years 
in the politics of this great State, and we have had 
what is known as the ' Albany Regency ' here, one 
of the strongest political organizations that has ever 
existed. Here we have the great Capitol of the 
Empire State, costing over twenty millions of dol- 
lars — whereas the capitol that preceded it cost 
but a little more than a hundred thousand dollars. 
You can see, those of you who are our guests, that 
the city of Albany has made substantial progress 
during these many years. It has been in keeping 
with the advances made by other cities of the great 



24 



Union ; un<l an I said to tlir onicern tlii.H morning, 
when they assenihlod in tlie Mayor's oftice, the 
city of Albany is proud to have you im an gue»tii. 
A few years ago we celebrated wliat iH known tm 
our bi-centennial, and at that time Holland uent to 
the city of Albany some three representativcH, the 
only representatives from foreign shores that we 
had. The celel)ration was a great success, and it 
was particularly gratifying to have tliose gentlemen 
with us from the mother country ; and to those who 
represent Holland to-night I have this to say, that 
the city of Albany is old in years but she is young 
in spirit ; and we wish you, gentlemen, the greatest 
amount of success as you journey through life, and 
we trust that this visit to Albany, although it is 
your first, will certainly not be your last, because 
you will always be heartily welcome." (Applause.) 

Dr. Vander Veer : *' We have with us ' one who 
has met the Hollander on his native heath, wium con- 
quered, captured and surrendered to his mother 
country, returned to us with fullness of heart, his 
lips ever uttering ' Oranje boven ! ' It gives me great 
pleasure to call upon Mr. George W. Van Siclen." 

Mr. Van Siclen spoke in Dutch: "Oranje lH)ven ! 
Oranje boven ! Oranje boven I 

" That was the war-cry of our ancestors of tlie 
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 

" Listen ! 

*' Oranje boven ! Oranje Ixjven ! Oraiije boven ! 



" That comes back to you from three hundred 
years ago. 

"We have the same colors, we Hollanders and 
Americans, the brilliant colors of the Netherlands 
flag, the same brilliant colors of the American 
flag — red, white and blue. 

" * schitrende kleuren van Nederland's vlag 
Wat wappert gij vrij laiigs den vloed ; 
Hoe klopt ons het harte van vreugd en ontzag, 
Wanneer het uw banier begroet ! 

****** 
" ' Wij heflfen u v^it uit de schuimende zee. 

En voeren naar 't blaauw van den hemel u m6e, 
Al kleurt zich uw rood met ons bleed.' * 

"Or as we landsmen say in the American lan- 
guage : 

" ' Thou art red as the dawn, thou art blue as the sky. 
Thou art white as the noonday light ; 
Fidelity gave thee thy beautiful blue, 
And Piety bound thee with white. 

" ' Then Faith and Fidelity went to the field 
"Where the blood of thy heroes was shed. 
And there, where the sword was the breath of the Lord, 
These gave thee thy ribbon of red.' 

" And we both — we all — have also that other 
color, orange. 

" ' Oranje boven en het wit onder. 

Die het anders meent, die haalt de donder 1 ' f 



* These are some of the words of the Dutch flag song '* Vlaggelied." 
t This is an old saying of the Dutch people of the time of the 
de Wits (Whites) : 

"Orange above and de Wit under; 
Who otherwise thinks may go to thunder." 

26 



" What is that color, orange ? 

" It is composed of the complimentary colors re<l 
and yellow — })lood and gold, life and property; an<l 
the Hollanders who were our ancentors in the six- 
teenth and seventeenth centuries, have done an they 
said : 'All that we have, all that we are, all that we 
hope to he, we lay upon the altar of our country.' 

" This is one of the reasons why we Americans 
are proud of being descended from those ancestors, 
and proud of being relatives of you, Dutch sailors. 

" Oranje boven ! " 

Dr. Vander V'eer : " 1 think it would be well for 
me to say to our guests that if they knew the gen- 
tleman who is about to respond to the next toast 
as well as we do here in Albany, it would hardly be 
necessary for me to give him an introduction ; he 
makes the very best of after-dinner speeches. 'The 
influence of the Netherlands upon New Netherlands 
theology ;' to be responded to by the Rev. A. V. V. 
Raymond, D. D., of this city." 

Dr. Raymond: "Gentlem«^n, Hollanders, all — A.«i 
my predecessor was speaking I was wishing that I 
might speak in a language that would be unintelligi- 
ble not only to the most l)ut all of you. There wa« 
a certain satisfaction that was expressed in the tone 
of his voice that wius about all I caught from his 
speech, but watching the faces of those whom I 
thought understood what he was saying, I inferred 
from his speech that 'It l)eat the Dutch!' (Laugh- 
er 



ter.) Notwithstanding the speech of our Mayor, I 
shall respectfully decline to discuss the ' morals ' of 
our city before strangers. (Continued applause.) I 
find myself to-night in no small sense gratified 
because the letter ' V ' has such a large place in my 
name. It is certainly a sorry day in Albany for a 
man who has not one in his name. My satisfaction 
is great, however, that in my own case it is far from 
being a disagreeable requirement. I am to sing a 
song that I love, a song of gratitude and praise for 
the land and people that gave me the truth which it 
is my joy to preach. The subject given to me is 
the ' Influence of the Netherlands upon the religion 
of the United States,' and I may say, without ven- 
turing too far at the beginning, that if Holland has 
had any influence upon America, it has been a reli- 
gious influence, because the old-time Dutchman was 
nothing if he was not religious, and he had that 
peculiar kind of religion that would not stay at 
home when he traveled; and inasmuch as he was 
fond of traveling, and in the course of his travels 
explored this country, he brought his religion with 
him. You never hear a Dutchman ask, ' Is life 
worth living?' He knew that it was, and a large 
part of his business in the world was to show why 
and how life was worth living. Now, he made a 
good neighbor whether the man next door to him 
was an Indian or an Englishman, and good neigh- 
bors do more to make the world good than all the 
laws that you can put upon the statute books. 
(Applause.) I speak from experience and with 

28 



great expL'ctation.s. (Laughter.) 1 recently clmnK»-fl 
my residence in tliis city. My ncttre«t neighlK)r in 
my old home wu.s a Knickerbocker. My nearent 
neighi)()r on one .'<ide in my new home i.n u Van, and 
my nearest neiglihor on the other side i» a Van. 
There is some hope* for me under thone circum- 
stances. (Laughter). But the religion of the colo- 
nial Dutchman not only made him gentle anrl peace- 
able, not only made him virtuous, but made him 
intelligent, and that cannot always be said of every 
religion. He could scarcely wait to finish his 
church before he began the school-house, an<l as a 
rule the school-house was literally under the drop- 
pings of the sanctuary. The colonial Dutchman 
never wearied of telling about Elijah. But what is 
the use of my telling that here ? You have told it 
to your children and your children's children. The 
colonial Dutchman believed there was something 
sacred about religion, so he gave to America the 
inspiration of the brightest scholarship of his time. 
His dominie must be an educated man — must be — 
he would have no other. He listened to no preach- 
ing for more than a launlred years that ditl not 
have the stamp of the great schools of Holland, and 
the great schools of Holland were then as they are 
now, among the foremost in the world, and when he 
could not import the greatest men from Hollan<l, he 
establisheil a university of his own, the very first in 
this country. 1 think, without any question, that 
this demaml upon the part of our Dutch ancestom, 
this deman<l for clear tliinkingand for trained intel- 



ligence had a marked and a prominent influence 
upon the religious life of the whole country. 

" Now, I hesitate somewhat to speak of another 
characteristic of the Hollander, simply because every- 
one knows it, and it seems to me that to-night we 
are telling over a great many things that everybody 
ought to know, and that everybody ought to know 
better, and considering the times in which we live, 
I do not know anything that ought to be said more 
frequently, or with greater emphasis, that is more 
fit, or that has more fitness for the requirements of 
this age, than the characteristic of the Hollander 
of two hundred years ago, at least, what we may 
call his spirit of Christian charity. When we con- 
sider the history of religious bigotry and persecution 
that has marred the fame of every other nation in 
the world, then that little land rescued from the sea 
rises before us in a blaze of glory, and will meet 
with praise until the stars shall fail. (Applause.) 
Let others talk of their armed strength, and their 
victories that were bought with their brothers' 
blood! We will talk of the large-heartedness and 
the broad-mindedness of the nation that was a 
church under the cross, and under the cross made, 
what the Father intended all his children should 
make under that symbol of love, a sanctuary for the 
persecuted and the oppressed. And so it is that 
while time shall last, the name of Holland will live. 
(Applause.) It is immortal, it is indestructible, be- 
cause it stands as the representation of a charity 
which is divine. It is born of the new heavens and 



30 



the lU'W earth, where men whiill not IcMrn war any 
more. (Apphiuse.) Now, tliiH Hpiril ilmt maile Hol- 
land the refuge for the oppressc*!, for thr prr-'fcutvii, 
the spirit that not only mad** room in Holland for 
persecuted Prote.stant.s, l)ut what is more, made 
room in Holland for him who has heen the haliHl 
of all nations for 1900 years (he it said to their 
shame), made room in Holland for the Jew, That 
spirit, when hroiiLijht to these shores, manifested 
itself in a brotherly love that forlKule intolerance. 
Oh, it were an easy thin*; to show that, in advance 
of their times, in contrast to every other religious 
organization in that day, the chtn-eh in Holland 
lived in fellowship with all believers, recognizing 
the God-living conscience in them as it had fought 
for it themselves for 500 years! (Applause.) The 
whole history of the Holland church in America is 
marked by a catholicity of spirit. When the Dutch 
were defeated at New Amsterdam by the English, 
while smarting under their defeat, they offered their 
church for the use of their conquerors. This \vn» 
not a token, as some have tried to prove, of weak- 
ness of faith. There is no church in America, there 
is no church in the world, that has held more tena- 
ciously to its distinctive beliefs than the church of 
Holland, in the mother country and here, recogniz- 
ing the honesty of the convictions of every other 
man, and finding in the law of love a practicalde 
basis for Christian community, the only hixsM^ that 
will be found by any church until the end shall 
come. (Applause.) And whatever catholicity has 

3« 



been shown was all expressed in the magnificent 
doctrines of the church of Holland adopted by the 
church of America. Of this it may be truly said 
that they stand to-day as the most evangelical, the 
most scriptural of all the historic confessions of 
faith. But the influence of Holland in the religious 
life of America ! What has it been after all ? It 
has been the influence of the spirit, great in its 
gentleness; unseen, unhonored but pervasive, leav- 
ening, uplifting; recording its achievements upon 
no manner of scholastic principles, but the life of a 
great nation that learns more and more to keep God 
and His commandments, which is the whole duty of 
man." (Loud applause.) 

Dr. Vander Veer : " ' In those days they made wise 
laws, which were given wise judicial interpretation.' 
We have with us to-night a true disciple of this. 
Gentlemen, I have the pleasure of calling on the 
Hon. John Van Voorhis, of Rochester, to respond." 

Mr. Van Voorhis : " Mr. Toast-master and Gentle- 
men — It is midnight's holy hour, and we are all 
Dutchmen, and I want to take you into my confi- 
dence, and say that the smartest thing I think I can 
do under the circumstances is to speak but a minute, 
and then take my seat. I have been greatly pleased 
with the speeches that have preceded mine, and I 
could not hope to entertain you against such elo- 
quence as we have listened to, especially that of the 
father of the Holland Society, Mr. Van Siclen of 

32 



New York. That iiia^'niliceiit voice of lii.s rang out 
through this liall in tones that rennndcd u« of 
Orpheus, wlio liad such a nuignificent voice an to 
call tlie trees and stones to him hy itM power, and 
who on one occasion stopped an avahmche in the 
air. Now, if there is anything that voice of \n» 
calls for and iloes not get, I am yet to hoar of it. 
Now, 1 was greatly pleased to hrar what the Gov- 
ernor said that he was a Dutcliman. He tiid not 
say he was horn in llollaml. You know the Irisli- 
man said, ' Because a man is l»orn in a stahle, doen 
that make him a horse .' ' 

"Now, from the toast tliat was assigned me, I wa.s 
to discuss the law. I had not seen tlie toa.st, nor 
did I know anything about it until my friend the 
Mayor, on one side, read it to me ; and my friend 
Rev. Mr. Johnson, on the other side, read it to me. 
I could not read it myself, because 1 left my glasses 
at home. I want to supplement what the (lovernor 
said for the benefit of Captain Arriens. It is alxjut 
the great lakes. There are upon those lakes 3,G00 
vessels engaged in commerce. There are 3,000 of 
those vessels engaged in the freight carrying busi- 
ness, and these vessels exceed the carrying capacity 
of all the vessels on the Atlantic Ocean. It is per- 
fectly amazing, the amount of commerce of thejM? 
great lakes, and I do not advise our friends' going 
back to Holland without getting a sight of the 
lakes. In fact, we cannot talk al)Out this country 
because it is so large. We can talk alK)Ut Holland 
because it is so snudl. I have never been to Hol- 



33 



land, and I have regretted ver}' much that I could 
not go with Mr. Van Siclen when he went there. 
I have never tired of listening to the accounts of 
the great ovation they received there. We cannot 
do anything in honor of our guests this evening 
which would begin to repay the cordiality which the 
citizens of Holland paid to the representatives of 
the Holland Society under the lead of Mr. Van 
Siclen when they visited the Netherlands a short 
time ago. The toast which Dr. Vander Veer has 
given me I should like to respond to, if I had had 
a little time to prepare for it, because it is a great 
subject. Now, the Hollanders of New York came 
over here in 1525 or '26. 1 never heard that they 
brought a lawyer with them. They brought a 
schoolmaster and a clergyman. They built schools 
and churches, but I never heard of their employing 
a lawyer, and I never heard that the present Dutch 
Governor ever employed a lawyer. So you see that 
lawyers are not in much demand. But if you want 
to find a lawyer, the greatest lawyer upon the rolls, 
a jurist, Holland can give you the name. The father 
of International Law was a Hollander. All the na- 
tions of the world to-day are governed by the inter- 
national law laid down by De Groat. I might say 
generally, that Holland has been in the advance in 
all ages of civilization. She has been the teacher, 
and all the other nations of Europe have been her 
pupils. England has learned an immense amount 
from Holland. Holland has the benefit of the origi- 
nal, and the British are the copyists. You all know 

34 



liow, wIkm .lolm Milton wanted to write liin Para- 
disc Lost lie w('!it over to Ilijilaml. So you take 
the art ol rovorint; textile I'ahries ; tliey j;ot it from 
Holland. We got something from Holland too. I 
niean the United vStatcs. There \\i\n a United StatcK 
of Holland before there was a United StateH of 
America; and when Thomas .IrlTrrson t-ame to 
write that i:;lori()Us Declaration of Indepcnflencc he 
founil a precedence for it in Hollaml. 

" Mr. Chairman, I shall not detain you. I simply 
throw out a few sug«;esti()ns, and I desire to tliank 
you for the opportunity of heinj; here to-ni;;ht. I 
have very much regretted that 1 couM not go to 
New York to meet our friends tlu're; and wiien 1 
found that they were to come here, and Dr. Vander 
Veer kindly sent me an invitation, I laid every- 
thing aside and came to Albany. I ilid not come 
to make a speech. I simply want to say that I take 
great pride in you, and that everything HoUamlisli 
is prettv good, and because I believe that the highest 
civilization the world over comes from Holland." 

Dr. Vander Veer : " 'The .arly settlers of Albany.' 
to be responded to by the Hon. Abraham Lansing." 

Mr. Lansing : " Mr. (.'hairman and rientlemen of 
the Holland Society — We are not unaccustome.l to 
having distinguished foreigners among us. Knghsh- 
men and Irishmen and Scotchmen, an«l reprepcnta- 
tives of other nations and of distinction, are quite 
household wonls in our history; but Hollanders, 



in the uniform of their country, bringing to us the 
presence of Holland and the Netherlands, are very 
rare. We would be glad oftener to bid them wel- 
come. And yet, in response to this toast, 'The 
early settlers of Albany,' the first suggestion which 
occurs to me is, that it was from the loins of Hol- 
land that Albany sprang. (Applause.) Speaking of 
the sailors of the Half Moon, and with some mental 
amendments of times and places, we may exclaim" 
with Virgil : 

' genus unde Latinum Albanique patres ; 

atque altae moenia Romae.' 

And with a somewhat free translation and render- 
ing of the Latin poet: 'Hence sprung the Yankee 
Dutchman, the Albany fathers, and the Empire City 
of the Empire State of the Union.' (Applause.) 

" The Netherlanders, Mr. President and gentlemen, 
did not discover America. I have never heard that 
they ever claimed, or do claim, to dispute with 
Christopher Columbus the honor of that achieve- 
ment. Neither were the Netherlanders among the 
earliest discoverers or explorers of this country. 
What they did do, after a good deal of deliberation, 
in which they seem to have considered very care- 
fully the question, whether they should do anything 
at all in regard to the lands beyond the seas, her- 
alded to them in their own country, was this : They 
started from Amsterdam one morning, sailed across 
the ocean, skirted along the northern shores of the 
American continent, and finally picked out its finest 

36 



h;irl)()r and its fairest bay, (liBcovered the Hiuluon 
riv<r; sailed upwards, Houndmj^ along itn (lepthH a 
limidrod and lil'tv miles from itn mouth, and liero 
not far from the yite of tlie building where we are 
now banqueting, founded tiic Kmpirc State (ap- 
plause); that State which is first in population and 
in wealth, and greatest in tlu? energies and resourc«'s 
of its people among all the States of tliis Union. 
(Applause.) 

" Now, if they were not tlie earliest discovereni, or 
the earliest explorers of this country after its discov- 
ery, they were among the first, if not the very first, 
to establish a permanent settlement here. The 
Half Moon was before the Mayflower; Beverwyck, 
which is now Albany, was before Plynunith ; it was 
before Jamestown, and historians are disputing if it 
was not before St. Augustine in Florida, which is 
the only rival in the claim to being parent of all. 
We may, therefore, I think to-night, with .'^ome 
right to vindicate our position as an historical fact, 
claim to welcome our guests to the earliest existing 
settlement of the United States of America. (Ap- 
plause.) Now, from the Half Moon to the Van 
Speyk, from Hendrick Hudson to Captain Arriens, 
is over two hundred and eighty years, yet tliere are 
those living in this city and seated at our table who 
trace their lineage back to the early Dutch settlen* 
of this neighborhooil by so distinct and unbroken a 
chain of Dutch lineage, that they may claim to be 
purely an«l simply off-sets of a parent r(H)t rai.se«l on 
a foreign soil and under a new allegiance. (Applauw.) 

37 



Now, I confess, gentlemen, that you would not 
recognize that fact in their ability to talk with you 
in the language of the mother country, but I am 
bound to say that this misfortune is greatly miti- 
gated by the fact that the gentlemen of the father- 
land, and the ladies, at least in some memorable 
instances, also, as I have personally reason to know, 
have no difficulty in relieving the embarrassment 
of such a situation- by talking with these, in this 
respect, degenerate Dutchmen in the language of 
this country. (Applause.) I am bound to say also, 
that when you come to know these gentlemen who 
are descended from that Holland stock, you will 
find that they are not degenerate in any of those 
moral principles or sentiments, or in any of those 
liberal views or elements of good citizenship, which 
they are proud to boast has come to them with their 
parentage. (Applause.) 

" Now, gentlemen, I feel that it is late, and it is 
not right to prolong these remarks ; but I cannot 
refrain from calling attention to this fact: that it is 
this relationship, this relationship of the Hollanders 
in America to the Hollanders of the fatherland, 
which gives to this occasion a peculiar interest. 
We welcome here, our guests, as we are bound to 
do as the subjects of a foreign country to which we 
hold friendly relations. We welcome them espe- 
cially, as the subjects of that sovereign whose young 
life and promise are to us matters of the deepest 
concern and interest. (Applause.) We welcome 
them also, as I say we are bound to do, as strangers 

38 



in a foreign land ; l)ut we cannot divo.st ournolvoH 
from the feeling that we are here to-night with a 
feeling of 'a divided duty,' — a feeling of loyalty 
to Holland as well as a feeling of loyalty to Amer- 
ica ; and we cannot overlook the fact that we wel- 
come them as men of the same kindred race aa our 
own. (Applause.) Now the nations of the world 
are coming nearer together. It is the fjvshion of 
the times, if not the maniffst destiny of mankind. 
These expositions, these invitations to world's fairs, 
are the outcomes of that tendency. The days of 
exclusive walls and of non-intercourse are pjist. We 
have notliing to say in criticism of Holland in that 
respect. Holland's latch-string has always heen out. 
Holland lias been the hope of mankind. With an 
acreage of less than 13,000 square miles, she has 
ever opened her doors to all the earth. She has 
been the refuge and asylum of persecuted humanity 
in its greatest distress and difficulty. But we would 
be glad to have Holland learn more fully the lessons 
of intercourse with the nations, outside of its own 
domains, and if it shall become more the fashion of 
the nations to visit each other in this friendly way, 
I know of no nation on earth whose history I would 
rather have illustrated and example inculcated 
among us than the history and example of the 
Netherlands. The principles which underly them 
were ))n)ught iicre by our fatluTs, th»' early settlers 
of Albany." (Apj)lause.) 



39 



Dr. Vander Veer : " We regret exceedingly the 
absence of the Consul-General, who expected to be 
here, but who has been detained at the last moment 
and was unable to come ; and we are exceedingly 
sorry to have to announce the absence of Judge 
Clearwater of Kingston. He is always defending 
the Dutchmen of his good town, and we thought by 
assigning to him the toast ' The wicked Dutchmen 
at Kingston and other places,' he would come and 
give us a repetition of that excellent and witty 
speech which it was our pleasure to listen to on 
another occasion. 

" ' Another of our number full of the recollections 
of the hospitality given by our mother country to 
the pilgrims to the New Netherlands of three years 
ago.' It gives me great satisfaction to call upon 
Mr. Sheldon T. Viele, of Buffiilo, to respond." 

Mr. Viele : " Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen — It 
is related of our expedition that during the first 
three days of our voyage out, when we were not too 
sea-sick to think of anything else, that we spent all 
of our time in talking of our genealogy, and it was 
remarked that each one was profoundly interested 
in his own family and had but a languid interest in 
that of the others. To-night, for the first time in 
my life, I lift up my voice in public in the home of 
my ancestors. I am glad that I have come on such 
an occasion, and I am glad that I come to represent 
Buffalo, because Buffalo (as you may not know) is 
the extreme west of the Dutch centers of this coun- 



40 



try. It is made ii Dutch center by the fiat of the 
Holland Society. It may not he known to you that 
BulValo was founded, laid out, hy a company of 
Dutch merchants from Amsterdam, who by their 
thrift and by their enterprise succeeded in accom- 
plishing a feat that Robert Morris, the financier of 
the Revolution failed to accomplish. These men 
bought that tract, laid it out in the same way that 
they laid out the first of their cities at the mouth of 
the Hudson, they laid it out and made it the third 
city in size in this State, and so Buffalo properly 
belongs as a Dutch center. We have another claim 
also to being a Dutch center, because our first great- 
ness came from that peculiarly Dutch institution, a 
canal, and so we are a Dutch center, and as the ex- 
treme west of the Dutch centers I am glad to repre- 
sent Buflalo. 1 am glad I have come 300 miles to- 
day, sir, to express in behalf of Buffalo as a Dutch 
center it« welcome to the Dutchmen to-night. The 
last time that I had the honor of addressing an 
assemblage of Dutchmen was up in the north of 
Holland, in that glorious old town of Alkmaar. It 
was there that I was asked to respond to the address 
of the burgomaster. The honorable burgonuuster 
addressed us in Dutch, I replied to him in English ; 
but we all understood each other, because our hearts 
were true and our hearts were in it. (Applause.) I 
was asked to respond, on behalf of our Holland 
Society, to the welcome we had at that one place. 
What can I say to the welcome we had all ovit 
Holland .' At Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Leyden, 



4« 



Hague, Dordrecht, Delft, Haarlem, Briel and Alk- 
maar. It was the same at all of them. At them 
all we received a welcome and hospitality which 
nobody could appreciate unless they were there. I 
shall never forget the glorious day and the mag- 
nificent welcome we had at Leyden; the beautiful 
weather and the enthusiastic crowds; the great 
wealth of historical treasures that were thrown open 
to us ; and above all, the love of liberty and loyalty 
that beat in every heart. Edward Everett made the 
boast that the foundation of Harvard University was 
the first instance in the world where the people had 
taxed themselves to found a university. He did 
not know that hundreds of years before the Dutch 
people made a tax upon themselves to found the 
University of Leyden. None of you, gentlemen, 
can know Holland unless you visit it. You are 
proud of being Americans. You should also be 
proud of being Hollanders. The history of Holland 
is glorious. We all knew of it, but the present 
accomplishments of this little nation are even more 
glorious in certain ways. When we in America 
wish to obtain a little more land, we cut down a 
tree or fence in the prairie. When Holland wishes 
to extend her lands, she fences in the treacherous 
sea. 

" Now, Americans, as you are Americans, you 
should love Holland, and if you would love Holland 
as you should, you should visit Holland as we did. 
I came over 300 miles to express to you and to the 
men of Holland present here to-night my apprecia- 



42 



tioii of tlio great huspitality wliicli tliey accorded to 
U8 on the occasion of our visit to the Netherlands 
three years ago, and to express my love and venera- 
tion for the mother country, 1 can best close in the 
words of one of our number on the occasion of our 
visit : 

*' ' Good men are better for tlio inoii of Ilollniul ; 

Nations are better whose bves received her Hfe ; 
Valor is firmer from the strength each right hand 

Gains from her holy strife. 

" 'God of our fathers, who their nation founded, 
Keep thou the people great, and strong and pure ; 

In love of country, truth and brethren grounded, 
While nations shall endure.'" 

(Applause.) 

Dr. Vander Veer : " I am sure that as the time 
has come for our parting, we can hardly go to our 
homes without a parting word from Capt. Arriens, 
We would be glad to liear from liim once more." 

Captain Arriens: " dentlemen — Before leaving, 
I wish to express to you the feelings of my heart, 
and that is to assure you all, gentlemen and Hol- 
landers, how highly we appreciate and how pro- 
foundly grateful we are for your splendid reception 
in our honor, and also to thank you for the splendid 
and magnificent bowl which you oiler us as a sou- 
venir. Your splendid gift will go with us all over 
the world, and when we look at it, it will always 
remind us of you, kind and good-hearted gentlemen 

43 



of the Holland Society. I beg to assure you, that 
without this splendid gift we would remember you 
nevertheless. I hope to see some of you, gentle- 
men, in our own country. All of us will be more 
than willing to extend to you all the courtesies we 
can, and show you the same kindness that you have 
shown to us. Gentlemen, I can only express my 
wishes for the prosperity of the Holland Society 
and for the mighty United States of America." 
(Applause.) 

The banquet over, the speeches spoken, the guests 
with kindly adieus were escorted to the railroad, 
and took their departure for New York, bearing with 
them the remembrance of a cordial welcome, and a 
most enjoyable day spent in our venerable city. 



The Yan Speyk was built in the Government 
Navy Yard at Amsterdam, Holland ; begun in 1880, 
launched in 1883 ; 1887 was ordered to the East 
Indies, and there took part in several engagements 
against the pirates of Atcheen, the rebels of the 
Island of Floris, and in other parts of the Indian 
Empire of Insulinda. After almost five years of 
constant service in the Dutch Indies, she was 
ordered back to Holland in 1892, and was commis- 
sioned as a training ship for midshipmen and young 
sailors. In this capacity she made a trip along the 
African coast to Brazil, back to the Cape of Good 
Hope, thence to New York, and was the naval rep- 



44 



resentative of the Netherlands in the Naval Review. 
She carried, when here, a crew of 308 officers and 
men, 80 of whom were young men who had just 
finished their theoretical training and were shipped 
for the purpose of receivinf: practical instruction. 
On her return to Holland the ''Nieuwe RotUrdamsche 
Courajit'' of July 16, 1893, reports her as having 
been put out of commission and Captain Arriens 
honorably retired. 

Captain Arriens, whose portrait graces this report, 
is a fine-looking gentleman, tall and of commanding 
appearance, about fifty years of age ; is a " Kidder 
van de Militaire Willems Orde," and a " Ridder van 
de Orde van de Nederlandsche Leeuw," was decora- 
ted with the mark of honor for participating in the 
war against Atcheen, also with the Atcheen Medal, 
made of bronze from Atcheenese cannon. He haa 
been an officer in the Royal Navy nearly thirty-five 
years. Having entered the service September 4, 
1858, a.s midshipman, 1st Class, at that time, he be 
came 2d Lieutenant, 2d Class, April 1, 18G1; 1st 
Lieutenant, May 1, 1872 ; a commander, December 
5, 1882, and Captain, December 1, 1886. 



e^ad? 




^ * _-^..>s.;.-JU»«'«=*«-S--- 






